It turned out the coach, Ralph Schiavo, was simply deceived by Flacco's laid-back approach.

"He was a quiet leader," Schiavo recalled. "He was never going to get in anybody's face. He's so easygoing. It almost seems like he's not paying attention sometimes, but he is. It's just that nothing really bothers him."

Flacco's cool demeanor will be tested against euphoria this weekend when he hears his name called at the NFL draft, perhaps as high as the first round.

Flacco is a 6-foot-6, 237-pound quarterback who starred at Delaware, leading the Blue Hens to the Division I-AA national championship game. Most draft aficionados have him ranked behind only Matt Ryan among this year's class of signal-callers.

That puts Flacco, 23, ahead of more familiar names such as Michigan's Chad Henne and Louisville's Brian Brohm. Flacco's rise up the charts was prompted by his strong showing at the NFL combine, but Mike Mayock, a draft expert for the NFL Network, caught on to Flacco's ability when he saw him during a practice at Delaware.

"I got a phone call in late September from the director of college scouting," recalled Mayock, a Haverford School graduate. "He said, 'Do yourself a favor and meet me at the University of Delaware tomorrow.' He and I and two other scouts went to practice, then watched three hours of film. I said, 'Uh-oh, this kid has a chance to be special.' I immediately readjusted my draft board and put him in my top five quarterbacks."

Flacco, who had been invited to the East-West game, caught a break when he was invited to the Senior Bowl after Ryan had turned it down. It was a stroke of fortune for Flacco, because he got to compete against the top college players. Ryan had already shown what he could do against elite competition. Flacco hadn't, so the scouts still had some questions.

"The wake-up call came much more quickly than if he hadn't been there [at the Senior Bowl]," Mayock said. "You stand there next to him and you see that arm and you go, 'Wow!' Now the kid's on the map in a significant way. He's on everybody's legitimate draft board. On my board, I have Ryan one, Flacco two and Chad Henne three. I think he's kind of a late one [first round] or early two [second round]. A lot of teams think he'll be the best quarterback coming out of this draft."

ScoutNFLexperts.com has Flacco going to Miami as the No. 32 overall selection.

Flacco's arm is what snaps everybody to attention. He can make all the throws necessary for an NFL quarterback. He won a long-distance throw competition at ESPN's College Football All-Star Challenge with a toss of 74 yards, beating out Ryan, Henne, Colt Brennan and John David Booty.

The line on Flacco is that he stands firm in the pocket, throws well on the run, and is deadly accurate, especially with his deep passes. Another line on him is that he holds the ball too long, locks onto receivers, and may lack the mobility to effectively elude the rush.

Since the combine, Flacco has worked out for several teams. He said he has no idea where he will be picked or by whom, and he added that it doesn't really matter.

"Hopefully, it'll be over on the 26th rather than the 27th," he said. "But I don't really care. Wherever I get picked, I'm going to be happy because I'll be on a team somewhere. It should be an exciting time."

His senior year at Delaware, Flacco threw for 4,263 yards and 23 touchdowns. He completed 63.5 percent of his passes and was intercepted just five times. He began his career at Pitt but transferred when it became apparent he wasn't going to beat out Tyler Palko. He went to Delaware even though he had some concerns that he wouldn't be noticed by pro scouts.

"Maybe when I was looking to go to Delaware, I thought there might be some questions because I wasn't sure if they'd see me at that level," he said. "But I got all the opportunities I could want, and we played for the national championship.

"I can't tell you they're [NFL scouts] not going to hold it against me, but I don't think they are and I don't think they should. I think if you watch the film, you can see enough. I think if you can play, you can play."

While so many players find the combine pressure packed and stressful, Flacco said he relaxed and enjoyed the process. He went on to become one of the most talked-about players there.

"You just tell yourself it's not a big deal, and you do what you know how to do and be the best you can be and hope everything works out," he said. "I went there with that attitude, and I thought it went pretty well. The feedback I got was nothing but good. You have to have fun with it. They're looking at multimillion-dollar investments, so you understand what they're trying to do."